Apparatus for softening silk, yarn, cotton, and other thread



Nov. 19, 1929. H. MAYER 1,736,543

APPARATUS FOR SOFTEHING SILK, YARN, COTTON, AND OTHER THREAD Filed May 5. 1928 s sheets-sheetv 1 ./f/ HER/maw /Wfz YER Nov. 19, 1929. MAYE 1,736,543

COTTON, AND OTHERV THREAD YARN,

Filed May 3. 1928 APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING SILK 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 hux lll

l lNi/ENTOR. HERA/IHN /WH YE@ ATTORNEYS.

Nov. 19,1929. 11M/WER: f 1,736,543

APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING SILK, YARN, COTTON, AND OTHER THREAD Filed May. 192s s sheets-sheet s f BY 1 ATToRN Pubmed Nov; 19, 1929 L HERMAN MAYEB, F PHILADELPHIA., PENNSYLVANIA APPARATUS FOR -SOFTENING SILK, YARN, COTTON, ANZI) OTHER THREAD Application led llay 3, 1328.' Serial No. 274,779.

This invention relates to apparatus for softening silk,A yarn, cotton, or other thread, and relates more especially to a device for moistening silk, yarn, cotton or other thread as it passes from a bobbin or cone to a knitting or Weaving machine.

The leading object of the present inven tion is to provide a device of the character stated in which a receptacle for yarn moistenin purposes is provided arranged to contain a diquid and having suspended from the upper part of the receptacle a wick doubled over upon itself with its pendant lower ends submerged in the liquid, said wick being so l5 suspended that the thread is guided horizontally between an'd in contact with the pendant ends of the wick.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device of the character above JJ stated in which the .wick is suspended from .a rod arranged substantially horizontally of the receptacle and in which thread is guided through said receptacle including the pendant ends of said wick in substantial parallelism with said rod.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a closed chamber arranged within the liquid containing receptacle,

which closed chamber has a heating medium 3U therein for raising the temperature of the liquid in the receptacle, which heating medium is isolated from the liquid chamber.

`Other and further objects of the present invention reside in the provision of general details of construction and arrangement and combination of parts for attaining the results sought by the foregoing objects.

Other and further objects not at this tim .0 set forth will hereinafter appear. The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying .15 drawings forming part hereof, and in which:

Fig. l, is a top or plan view of apparatus for softening silk, yarn, cotton, and other thread embodying the invention.

. Fig. 2,'is a view in horizontal section taken to upon the line Qf--2 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3, is a view in cross section taken upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is aview in cross section taken upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5, is a top or plan view of apparatus for softening silk, yarn, cotton and other thread embodying a modied feature of the invention.

Fig. 6, is a view in longitudinal section taken upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective illustrating details of construction shown in Fig. 6.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings two forms thereof which are at present preferred by me, since the same have been ound in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described. l 1

Broadly stated, the apparatus for soften- 7 ing silk, yarn, cotton, and other thread embodied in the present invention comprises a receptacle of generally rectangular form adapted to have passed therethrough thread as it leaves a bobbin or cone for delivery to a knitting or weaving machine, said thread passingbetween a doubled over wick, which wick has its pendant lower ends submerged in liquid within the receptacle and in which the thread is guided substantially in parallelism with the means for supporting the wick, and in which a closed chamber is arranged within a liquid containing receptacle so that the heating medium therein is isolated from the li uid chamber. Re erring now to the drawings in detail, 1 'designates a receptacle which may be of any desired configuration, but which in practice is of rectangular shape. This receptacle is calculated to contain Water or other liquid, 95 and the open to is provided with a removable cover 2. Cldlried by the side walls 3 of the receptacle and extended horizontally, through the receptacle 1 immediately below the cover 2 is a plurality of ro'ds 4, the num- 1,00

ber of which is immaterial, five being shown in the drawings. Suspended upon each rod 4 is a wick 5 doubled over upon itself so as to provide pendant lower ends 6 the pendant ends being spaced apart, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The lower pendant ends of the wick 5 are submerged in the liquid contained in the rece tacle 1 so that the wicks at all times absorb iquid contained within the receptacle. Arranged within the side walls 3 ad] acent the wicks 5 and immediately below the rods 4, and in ali ent with said rods, is a plurality of inlet eyelets 7 for guiding thread to and between the pendant parts of the wicks and to the elongated exit opening 9, see Fig. 2. Arranged beyond the wicks 5 and carried by the bottom wall of receptacle 1 is a casing 10 enclosing a chamber 15, the major portion of which casing in practice is formed integral with receptacle 1, see Fig. 2, a cover 11 located wholly without the receptacle 1 being provided for gaining access to the chamber 1'5. While the chamber 15 may be provided with any appropriate heating me-` dium, for illustrative purposes electric heating coils 12 are provided which coils are mounted upon a block of insulating material 13, and secured to the casing 10 of chamber 15 as by screws 14. Electrical connection is made withy the coils 12 through wires 16v and 17. These wires 16 and 17 pass through pipes 18. A liquid inlet connection 19 is provided and a liquid outlet 2() is also provided, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The number of units installed upon an apparatusmay be of any desired number, as, for instance,"

from one to thirty or more units. They are so arranged with the piping connections that the units are all connected in series by pipe lines 19 and 20 or liquid may be supplied by A and winding machines, as is evident.

The electricheating element has an important function, since it not only heats the water, felt and the threads which are to bel softened, -but it also has a tendency' as the temperature increases to generate a vapor which softens and lubricates the thread and the resultant fabric into which the thread is knitted. e

The heating coils arranged within the closed chamber 15 provide a heating medium which is isolated from the liquid chamber so that no heat escapes from the chamber, but

through the receptacle unduly to heat and.

dry out thethread.

The receptacle 1 can be filled tothe desired height with water or any other liquids Y .with the felt wicks 5 partly submerged.

These wicks will at all times absorb thevarious'liquidsand will always be saturated. As

the threads pass through and contact with the juxtaposed walls of said felt wicks they will absorb the water or liquids used, and in so doing will be readily lubricated, softened and moistened, making the threads so flexible, that the life of the needles and guides which otherwise are liable to break'or become fractured by the hardness of the threads, will be indefinitely prolonged.

The use of my novel device further eliminates the use of some winding machinery, as today many of the -threads'or yarns can be purchased on cones and can be used as purchased directly on the knitting machine.-

In many cases at thepresent time, however, silk and like .threads are wound-and rewound manytimesin order to take the hardness andv and softens the threads and the resultantV fabric and thereby saves an extra operation of re-windi-iig the thread in order to apply some sort of a lubricant thereto. A

y Referring now tothe modified form show in Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive, the general arrangement, construction, and, combination o'f parts is the same as that shown in the foregoing figures with the exception that instead of the electric heating apparatus shown in the chamber 15 in Figs. 2 and 3, the said electric heating apparatus has been omitted and a chamber provided for steam or hot water heating. This chamber is designated 15', and is not integral with the casing 1. The chamber 15 is enclosed by casing 21,' the lower stem 22 `of which is internally screw threaded to accept a nipple or short section of pipe 23. The nipple 23 extends through the bottom of the casing 1 and has screw threaded arrangement with casing 21, a nut 24 being provided for clampin the casing 21 with respect toA casing 1. ashers or packing 2 5 of appropriate material are interposed between the meeting faces of the stem22 of-casing 21 and the-inner face of nut 24. When these parts are firmly clamped to place, as shown in Fig. 6, the chamber 15 is isolated from the contents ofthe rece ta-V cle 1, as is clearly apparent from Fig. 6 o the the manner of packing the nipple 22 and of making a tight joint between the stem of the heating chamber and the bottom wall of the receptacle can be varied if desired. When the construction seen in Fig. 6 is employed, it will be understood that the bottom wall of the receptacle is solid except for the opening 26 therein through which the nipple 23 passes.

I am aware that the invention may be em- 10 bodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device of the character stated, a receptacle for thread moistening purposes adapted to contain a liquid, a rod extended longitudinally of said receptacle in the upper part thereof, a wick doubled over upon itself and supported by said rod, said wick having its pendant lower ends submerged in said liquid, thread guiding means arranged below the top of said wick substantially in parallelism with said rod for guiding said thread between and in contact with the pendant portions of said wick, a closed chamber arranged within the liquid containing receptacle, and a heating medium for said chamber, said heating medium being isolated from the liquid in said receptacle.

2. In a device of the character stated, a receptacle for thread moistening purposes adapted to contain a liquid, a rod extending longitudinally of said receptacle in the upper part thereof and supported by the receptacle end walls, a wick doubled over upon itself and supported by said rod, said wick havingl its pendant lower ends submerged in said liquid, thread guiding means arranged below the top of said wick including inlet eyelets carried by the end walls of said receptacle and arranged substantially in parallelism with said rod for guiding the thread to be moistened between and in contact with the pendant portions of said Wick, a closed chamber varranged within the liquid containing receptacle, and a heating medium for said chamber, said heating medium being isolated from the liquid chamber.

3. In a device of the character stated, a receptacle for thread moistening purposes adapted to contain a liquid, a rod positioned in the upper. part of said receptacle, a wick doubled over upon itself and supported by said rod, said wick having its pendant lower ends submerged in said liquid, thread guiding means arranged below the top of said wick substantially in parallelism with said rod 65 for guiding the thread between and in condoubled over upon itself and positioned on said supporting means, said wick having its pendant lower ends submerged in said liquid, thread guiding means arranged bel-ow the top of said wick substantially in parallelism with said wick for guiding the thread between and in contact with the pendant portions thereof, a closed detachable heating chamber isolated from t-he liquid in said receptacle, said wick being positioned in the space between said heating chamber and an end wall of said receptacle, a lower internally threaded stem on said heating chamber, supported on a wall of said receptacle, a nipple engaging said stem and projecting through said receptacle wall,. packing surrounding said nipple within and without said wall, and a nut engaging the outer end of said nipple. HERMAN MAYER. 

